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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

June 11, 1864, near Montgomery, Owen County, a severe skirmish between bushwhackers and Union forces occurred.   Two Union men died, but they captured 20 bushwhackers and took them to Louisville.

June 11, 1864, General Morgan approached Cynthiana with 1,200 men at dawn.  The Rebels set fire to the town, destroying many buildings and caused great havoc.  The next day the Union Army received reinforcement troops and captured the Rebels, but Morgan escaped.  It would be his last great raid.  Estimated Casualties: 2,092 total (US 1,092; CS 1,000)

Saturday, June 11, 1898, Sly Fox won the 23rd Preakness Stakes going 1 1/16 miles in 1:49 ¾ to win $1,150 on a good track.  Jockey Willie Simms, with this win, became the only African American jockey to have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont.  The Belmont ran 16 days earlier.

Wednesday, June 11, 1919, Sir Barton won the 51st Belmont Stakes.  He became the first horse to win the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont in the same year.  Johnny Loftus also became the first jockey to win the same three races in one year.  Owner J.K.L. Ross and trainer H. Guy Bedwell completed the winning connections.  The term “Triple Crown” had not been coined yet.

June 11, 1921, Grey Lag won the 53rd Belmont Stakes, run counterclockwise for the first time.  Four went to post for the 1 3/8 miles test that went in 2:16 4/5 to win $8,400.  John Madden bred the winner.

June 11, 1921, twelve men attempted to raid the Old Lexington Distillery in Nicholasville.  The manager and four guards stopped them after a 40 round shootout.  The warehouse held 1,200 gallons.

June 11, 1926, Deputy Sheriff John Henry Binion, Elliott County Sheriff’s Department, died from an ambush while walking near his farm.  He was waiting to meet another deputy before leaving for the federal courthouse in Cattletsburg, to obtain a warrant against several moonshining suspects.

June 11, 1927, Chance Shot won the 59th Belmont Stakes going 1 ½ miles.  From this point forward the race would always be 1 ½ miles.  Jockey Earl Harold Sande won his 4th of five Belmonts.  The winner received $60,910.

June 11, 1940, H.R. 9394 established the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.  The park still had to acquire sufficient land and features (outlined in the legislation) by Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee.  A 1943 amendment to the bill finally empowered the three states to purchase the requisite land.

Kentucky Trivia:  Cumberland Gap National Historical Park’s borders lie in Bell and Harlan Counties, Claiborne County, TN, and Lee County, VA, and covers 20,508 acres.  It took 15 years to complete the land purchases as outlined in the 1940 legislation.  The 1943 amendment gave the park purchasing power for the land and eventually was finalized in 1955.  Some of the delays were attributable to World War II, but most postponements centered on state funding levels and the resistance of landowners to sell.  Cumberland Gap is one of three natural breaks in the rugged Appalachian Mountain range.

June 11, 1951, Marine Corps CPL George H. Cline from Whitesburg in Letcher County died in the Korean War.

On June 11, 1952, the largest body of water, entirely located in Kentucky, Lake Cumberland, opened.  Covering 65,530 acres at the maximum pool, it has 1,255 miles of shoreline, while the main lake is 101 miles long and over 1 mile across at its widest point.  With a capacity of 6.1 million acre-feet of water, Lake Cumberland holds enough water to cover the entire state with three inches of H20.

June 11, 1953, Army CPL Virgil K. Baker from Campbell County, Army CPL Leslie J. Fitts from McLean County, Army PVT Willis G. King from McLean County, and Army PFC Leon S. Stewart from Clark County, died in the Korean War.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Danville native Frank X Walker, born in 1961, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate from 2013-2015.

June 11, 1961, the dedication of Kingdom Come State Park in Harlan County, atop Pine Mountain, near the city of Cumberland took place.  The name came from the 1903 best-selling novel The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come by native Kentuckian John Fox, Jr.

June 11, 1965, Air Force SSGT Merle E. Estes from Winchester, died in the Vietnam War.

June 11, 1966, Army PFC David W. Stewart from Fountain Run in Monroe County died in the Vietnam War.

June 11, 1969, Army SGT David O. Biggs from Columbia in Adair County, Army SSG Harold M. Brown from Mt. Washington in Bullitt County, and Army CPT Ivan H. Munro from Lexington, died in the Vietnam War.

June 11, 1971, Roscoe Tarleton Goose died.  The Golden Goose stunned the world when he won the 1913 Derby paying his backers $184.90 for a $2.00 bet.  He was the first hometown jockey to win the roses and was in the inaugural Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame’s class.

June 11, 1977, watch the 109th Belmont Stakes and Seattle Slew’s impressive talents on display to capture the 10th Triple Crown.

On June 11, 1987, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled, 4–3, that the Toyota incentive package provided to build the Georgetown plant served a public purpose and, therefore, was constitutional.  The court and the governor continue to be proven correct to this day.

June 11, 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5-4, that the new federal law making it a crime to burn or deface the American flag violates the free-speech guarantee of the first amendment.

June 11, 1994, Tobasco Cat, owned by Overbrook Farm & D.P. Reynolds, won the $653,800 Belmont Stakes.  D. Wayne Lukas and Pat Day completed the winning connections.  Tobasco Cat also won the Preakness but finished 6th in the Derby.  Derby winner Go For Gin finished 2nd.

June 11, 2000, officials arrested an alleged drug dealer, Dr. Rodolfo Santos, in Greenup County.   Seven of his patients died within a year, allegedly from drug overdoses.  Law enforcement stated the drug provider saw 40 to 60 patients a day, all supposedly drug addicts, who paid in cash.

June 11, 2005, Keeneland graduate Afleet Alex won the $1,000,000 Belmont Stakes drawing away from the field of 11 by seven lengths in 2:28.75.  He became the 11th horse ever to fall short in the Kentucky Derby but come back and win both the Preakness and Belmont, despite tripping at Pimlico.

June 11, 2011, Loretta Lynn performed at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

June 11, 2016, a Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate won the $1,500,000 Belmont Stakes by a nose.

June 11, 2017, Paducah native Phil Maton made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres.

June 11, 2020, Lexington police express regret over an incident on how they allegedly assaulted two teens trying to cash their bonds in a Lexington bank.  The police department stated, “We regret any fear, anxiety and injuries this incident caused.”

On June 11, 2021, Governor A. Beshear told Kentuckians they did not have to wear a mask anymore, which he mandated in July 2020.  He also lifted other restrictions, including restaurant restraints.  Meanwhile, Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. listened to courtroom testimony on why the governor’s powers need to be limited.